At a sizzling 50°C, Phalodi recorded the third highest temperature ever recorded in the city.
At a sizzling 50°C, Phalodi in Rajasthan recorded the third highest temperature ever recorded in the city, data from the Pune-based National Data Centre of the India Meteorological Department showed, narrowly missing its record high of 51°C.
The state has been suffering under the unrelenting heat for at least the past week, with six more people succumbing to heat-related ailments in the last 24 hours.
A red alert has been issued for 13 districts — Alwar, Baran, Kota, Barmer, Bikaner, Jalore, Churu, Hanumangarh, Jodhpur, Pali, Nagaur, Sriganganagar, and Jaisalmer — in the state till Monday , forecasting extreme heatwave.
Phalodi in Jodhpur recorded 50°C was the third highest maximum temperature for the month of May. The city recorded 51°C on May 19, 2016, which was the highest temperature ever recorded in the country, and 50.5°C on May 18, 2016.
The year 2016 was when the last phase of the El Nino weather patten waned, after it set in 2014. El Nino is usually characterised by a warming of waters in the Pacific Ocean. In India, this leads to the monsoon being drier than usual.
Saturday’s highest in Phalodi was followed by Barmer and Jaisalmer, which both recorded 48°C, and Bikaner and Churu, which recorded 47°C, IMD data showed.
Such unusually high temperatures were observed in other parts of the country as well.
Parts of Madhya Pradesh, such as Khargone, Ratlam, Rajgarh and Khandwa, recorded more than 45°C maximum temperatures.
In Delhi, Safdarjung (the city’s base station) recorded 43.4°C and Najafgarh 46.8°C.
Most of northeast India recorded extremely high temperatures, with over Assam nearly burning under severe heat. Guwahati recorded 40.1°C, in a departure of 8 degrees from normal; Passighat in Arunachal Pradesh recorded 39.4°C, 9.3 degrees above normal; Cherrapunji in Meghalaya recorded 30.1°C, 7 degrees above normal.
Experts blamed a change in wind directions for the dry weather.
“This extreme heat is mainly being recorded because wind direction has changed. Its northerly. So even more northeast India, very dry, hot winds blowing from the land side are affecting. The change in wind direction is mainly due to cyclone formation over the Bay. Northeast India will see relief from Sunday once the cyclone makes landfall,” said M Mohapatra, director general, IMD.